Queen Bee

July 2002 (1)

"Daddy! Daddy!" Both Hailie and Alaina squealed in unison, eyes falling on Marshall as soon as he turned the corner to come into the living room where us three, plus Des, Stevie and Nate were sitting watching a movie. 

As soon as the girls began running towards him, Marshall released a deep rumble of laughter while he quickly scooped up Hailie and left a quick peck against Lainey's head. "Hey babies." 

Smiling, I watched as he came and sat beside me on the couch before putting Hai back down. "You're home early." 

He smiled back at me as he gently reached for Des, taking him off of my lap and simultaneously kissing my cheek. "I know. But I leave tomorrow and I missed my family." Marshall said nonchalantly, earning happy babbles to come from Des. Marshall laughed. "Yeah buddy, I missed you. So daddy's albums just gon' have to wait, isn't it?" He cooed in reference to his new album that he had semi started working on last month. Des replied with a few more babbles and I smiled once more. Marshall really is such a good dad, I swear I could watch him and the kids for hours and never get bored. 

"Daddy, do you really have to go?" Hailie asked sadly as her and her big sister sat together on the floor. 

"Yeah, we're really gonna miss you." Lainey agreed, her voice sounding just as sad as Hailie's. I glanced over to Marshall, interested to see how he was planning on handling this when we've already gotten into big fights about this. 

Marshall sighed empathetically. "I know, girls. I'm sorry. I'm really gonna miss ya guys too. But I promise it wont be for long, and I'ma come back next month, okay?" They both nodded in a gloomy, but understanding matter. "But ya'll got Angel here, and ya can still see mommy a few times a week, so ya got nothin' to worry 'bout, aight? And you can call me whenever ya guys want." 

"Okay." Lainey sighed dramatically. 

"I know it sucks, and I really wish I didn't have to go, but daddy's gotta work, baby." 

"I wish I could come to work with you." Hailie said. 

A rush of air blew through Marshall's nose, resembling a laugh. "I wish ya could too, baby. I wish ya all could come with me. Maybe one day, okay?" 

"Okay." Hailie nodded. 

The corner of Marshall's mouth turned upwards into a small smile. "Okay. How 'bout we watch the rest of this movie then we can all go to bed, aight?" 

Lainey nodded excitedly. "Yeah!" 

Both me and Marshall chuckled. "Aight, sounds good." I quickly pressed play on the remote and the movie started back up again. Finishing the remainder of it, we all sat together for about another hour before it was finally done. By then, Des and Stevie had long been passed out, Des sleeping peacefully still in Marshall's arms while Nate had Stevie. So, once we were done, me and Nate went to go put the two babies to bed while Marshall took Hai and Lainey to bed. I know he specifically wanted to put the two girls to bed considering he was leaving really early in the morning tomorrow, and wanted to be able to say bye to them tonight so he wouldn't have to wake them up in the morning. 

Once I was done with Des, I went to check on Stevie just to make sure she was still sound asleep, and after I was sure she was I took myself to our room where I patiently waited for Marshall. As I was waiting, I figured I may as well start getting myself ready for bed. Changing into one of Marshall's t-shirts, I tied my hair back and headed into the bathroom to begin washing my face and brushing my teeth. 

Leaning over the sink as my toothbrush bobbed up and down in my mouth, I was perched on my freshly painted tip toes. "Damn, baby. Where ya get all that ass from?" I heard Marshall ask as he began walking towards me.